Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced dramatic gains in internet use in recent years. With this rapid growth in connectivity have come a host of potential problems, including fake news, political targeting and manipulation and financial scams, among others. Yet according to a new Pew Research Center analysis, most sub-Saharan Africans feel positively about the role the internet plays in their country. Large majorities say the increasing use of the internet has had a good influence on education in their country, and half or more say the same about the economy, personal relationships and politics.

Only when it comes to the issue of morality are sub-Saharan Africans somewhat more divided about the role the internet is playing. Across six major nations surveyed in the region, a median of 45% say the internet has had a positive impact on morality, while 39% say it is has been negative. These views vary substantially by country. For example, a majority of Nigerians (57%) believe the internet is having a good influence on morality, while more than half of Senegalese (54%) say the opposite.

Still, in some countries, evaluations of how the internet affects morality have improved since 2014. In Ghana today, 42% think that growing internet use has a positive effect on morality – up from 29% in 2014. Favorable assessments of the internet’s impact on economics and politics have risen even more over the same time period. For example, in 2017, around two-thirds of Nigerians (64%) said the increasing use of the internet had a positive influence on their country’s politics, compared with just 43% in 2014.

Generally, internet users –meaning people who say they use the internet or own an internet-connected smartphone – are more positive about its influence. For example, in all countries but Tanzania, internet users are more likely to think the internet plays a positive role in the country’s politics.

In most countries, these gaps in attitudes between internet haves and have-nots persist whether looking at issues of morality, education, or even the economy. For instance, 72% of Ghanaian internet users see economic benefits stemming from greater connectivity, compared with 54% of non-users, and the pattern is the same in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria.

These are among the major findings of a Pew Research Center survey conducted in six sub-Saharan African countries from Feb. 21 to April 28, 2017, among 6,795 respondents.

The survey also finds that sub-Saharan Africans primarily use the internet and their mobile phones for social and entertainment purposes, though many also use their mobile devices for sending and receiving payments. Still, people are more likely to engage in nearly all activities – even basic ones like texting – if they have smartphones, suggesting the emergence of a new digital divide based on phone type. The survey also highlights long-standing digital divides along demographic lines: Higher-income, more-educated and younger people are consistently more likely to use the internet, own a smartphone and engage in social networking.

Internet use increases across sub-Saharan Africa; share with a smartphone doubles

Globally, internet use is much more common in wealthier countries. The percentage of people who are online in each country is highly correlated with countries’ gross domestic product per capita (PPP). Regionally, internet use is lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, where a median of 41% across six countries use the internet. South Africa (59%) is the only country in the region where at least half the population is online.

Still, the gap in internet use between emerging and advanced economies has narrowed. Whereas internet use in many of the world’s advanced economies has plateaued in recent years, use in sub-Saharan Africa has notably increased. In 2014, 15% of sub-Saharan Africans owned a smartphone, compared with 33% who own one today. The number of people connected to the internet is likely to continue to rise, too; industry projections suggest that the smartphone adoption rate in sub-Saharan Africa will double by 2025.

Socializing is the most popular form of internet activity

As people across the region get online, new opportunities emerge to use the internet for education, for business or to communicate with their social networks.

Sub-Saharan Africans are far-and-away most likely to use the internet for this last purpose: staying in touch with their family and friends. More than eight-in-ten internet users say they have used the internet for this purpose over the past year.

While less common than keeping in touch with the people in their lives, around half of online sub-Saharan Africans use the internet to get news and information about politics (median of 53% of internet users) or public or government services (51%). Another four-in-ten use it to access information about health and medicine (41%).

Comparatively few people have used the internet in the past year to look or apply for a job (26%) or to take an online class (14%). Even online shopping – a very common activity in the U.S. – remains somewhat limited in sub-Saharan Africa (17%).

On social media, too, most people are gravitating toward social activities over political, religious or commercial ones. Among the minority of sub-Saharan Africans who use social media (ranging from 43% in South Africa to 20% in Tanzania), more say they share their views on entertainment-related topics like music, movies and sports than say they post about politics, religion or products they enjoy.

On phones, focus is entertainment, mobile payments

Sub-Saharan Africans are more likely to use their mobile devices – whether smartphones or not – for social and entertainment purposes than for information-seeking or career- and commerce-related activities. Across the region, a majority of phone owners are using their devices to send text messages and to take pictures or video. Around four-in-ten phone owners also use their mobile phones to access social networking sites.

Another very popular phone-based activity is making or receiving payments. Around six-in-ten mobile phone owners have used their devices for this type of online banking over the past year, ranging from a high of 83% in Kenya (where M-Pesa is a dominant force) to a low of 34% in Nigeria.

Outside of banking, though, relatively few people use their phones for other career and commerce activities, like looking for or applying for jobs. Information-seeking activities are also less popular: Only around a third of mobile phone owners say they have used their mobile device over the past year to get news and information about politics, health or prices and products.

Phone type heavily shapes what people do on their devices

Social activities and sending and receiving money are some of the most common mobile phone-based activities because they can be done both from a basic phone – one that does not connect to the internet – or from a smartphone. But even though they can be done at equal rates, people with smartphones are much more likely to use their phones for these types of activities.

Take, for example, sending text messages. Those who have mobile devices that connect to the internet are much more likely to text their network than those with a basic phone. In Ghana, the difference is particularly stark: 79% of smartphone users have texted over the past year, compared with only a third of basic phone users.

Similarly, while mobile phones are a very important tool for helping poorer people gain access to needed financial services, people are much more likely to use their phones to make or receive payments if they are internet-enabled. For example, in South Africa, more than half of those who have smartphones use their phones for mobile payments, whereas only a quarter of those with basic phones do the same.

Smartphone users and basic phone users also differ in other key ways. People who are more educated, more affluent and younger are more likely to use smartphones than others. Smartphone users are also more likely to say the internet is having a positive impact on society.

Comparing phone ownership and technology use in sub-Saharan Africa with other regions

The interactive below provides data for levels of internet use, overall mobile phone ownership, smartphone ownership and social media use over time. All figures are based on total sample and include all data available for each year. You can sort the data by year or by country, and compare how the six sub-Saharan African countries highlighted in this report compare with other countries around the world.

Large majorities in all six sub-Saharan countries surveyed own mobile phones. Ownership is highest in South Africa, where about nine-in-ten adults own a mobile device, and lowest in Tanzania, where three-quarters own a phone.

Basic phones – such as flip phones or feature phones – are generally the most common type of mobile device owned by sub-Saharan Africans. The exception is in South Africa, where 51% own a smartphone that can access the internet and apps, making it the most common device in that country. In Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria and Kenya, just about one-third of adults own smartphones. Smartphone ownership is again lowest in Tanzania (13%). For comparison, 77% of Americans reported owning a smartphone in January 2018. Worldwide, sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest rate of smartphone ownership of any geographic region.

But smartphone ownership is increasing across much of the developing world, including in sub-Saharan Africa. For example, 34% of Senegalese adults now report owning a smartphone, up from just 13% in 2013, the first year the question was asked. From 2013 to 2017, smartphone ownership also increased significantly in Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. Smartphone ownership has remained relatively stable – and low – in Tanzania since 2014, when the question was first posed there.

Ownership and usage gaps are particularly pronounced for smartphones

Even as mobile phones and smartphones have become more ubiquitous across much of sub-Saharan Africa, important educational, financial and generational divides in ownership remain. Gender gaps also persist in some countries.

In all six sub-Saharan African countries surveyed, people with more education are more likely to own any type of mobile phone, including smartphones.¹ For example, in Kenya, 95% of more-educated people – meaning those with a secondary education or more – own mobile phones, compared with 74% of people with less than a secondary education.

Even larger educational gaps appear for smartphone ownership in all countries. Looking again at Kenya, 62% of more-educated Kenyans own smartphones, compared with just 18% of those with less education. Similarly, wealthier people in most countries are more likely to own mobile phones of all types – but the gap is particularly large when it comes to smartphone ownership.² People with higher incomes are much more likely than those with lower incomes to own smartphones. The gap between richer and poorer is highest in South Africa, where 67% of higher-income people own a smartphone, compared with just 37% of lower-income people.

In four of the six countries, adults ages 50 and older are just as likely to own mobile phones as adults younger than 30. The two exceptions are Ghana and South Africa, where older people (71% and 85%, respectively) are less likely than younger people (83% and 93%) to own mobile phones.

But while mobile phone ownership is generally distributed evenly across age groups, the same is not true of smartphone ownership. In all six countries, people ages 18 to 29 are more likely to own smartphones than people ages 50 and older. These differences are often quite substantial; for example, in Kenya, about four-in-ten of those under 30 (41%) have these internet-enabled devices, compared with just 10% of people ages 50 and older.

In four of the six sub-Saharan African countries surveyed – Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania – men are at least 11 percentage points more likely to own a mobile device. Similar gender divides in smartphone ownership exist in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania, with men again being more likely to own smart devices. Among countries with significant gender differences, the gaps in smartphone ownership range from 6 points in Tanzania to 15 points in Ghana. For more on these demographic differences in mobile phone and smartphone ownership, see the detailed tables in Appendix A.

Among those with phones, social and entertainment activities are most common

Among mobile phone owners – both basic and smartphone – social and entertainment activities are much more common than other uses of mobile phones, such as looking up information.

Text messaging stands out as one of the most common mobile activities. In every country surveyed, more than half of mobile phone owners report using their phone to send text messages during the past year. But popularity of texting still varies widely, from 82% of mobile phone owners in South Africa who text to 53% in Ghana. Taking photos and videos is also popular: In five of the six countries, half or more mobile phone owners say they have taken pictures over the past year. In Tanzania, however, only 41% of mobile phone owners say they take photos or videos.

The most popular commerce- or career-related activity among mobile phone owners is mobile payments. In four of the six countries, at least half of mobile phone owners say they have used their phone to send or receive money over the past year. This activity is particularly common among Kenyan mobile owners: 83% report making or receiving mobile payments on their phone. Across the region, far fewer people use their phones to look for or apply for jobs (median of 18% of mobile phone users).

Most sub-Saharan African mobile owners are not using their phones to look up news and information. Only about one-third say they use their phone to look up information about politics (35%), health and medicine (32%) or consumer goods and prices (30%).

Men are significantly more likely than women to engage in two of these three information-seeking behaviors: getting news and information about politics and looking up consumer information. But men and women are equally likely to engage in all other activities, with some variation within countries.

Differences are much starker when it comes to socioeconomics and age. Younger, higher income and more educated mobile phone owners tend to engage more in almost all activities on their phones.

Some of these gaps may be attributable to the different types of mobile devices they own. Many activities, like accessing social media websites, are more readily done via smartphone than basic phone. However, other activities can be accomplished via even the most basic of phones. But smartphone owners tend to engage in even these simple activities more than basic phone owners.

For example, text messaging is easily accomplished on both basic and smart devices. In South Africa, while nearly all smartphone owners (95%) say they have used their phone to send text messages, only 66% of basic phone owners say the same. South Africa’s smartphone owners (54%) are also more likely than basic phone owners (25%) to make or receive payments via mobile phone, which is another activity that is readily done on any type of device.

Kenya stands out as a country where even a large majority of basic phone owners (79%) report using their device to send or receive money, along with 88% of smartphone owners. These similarly high rates of mobile money-transferring could be due to the massive popularity of the M-Pesa service in Kenya. This service allows mobile users – whether on a basic phone or smartphone – to use text messages to pay for goods and services or to receive money from other users. As of 2017, M-Pesa had about 20 million registered users in Kenya, and its transactions amounted to almost half of the country’s gross domestic product.

Across the six sub-Saharan African countries surveyed, a median of 41% say they use the internet occasionally or own an internet-capable smartphone. Sub-Saharan Africa has a lower level of internet use than any other geographic region, ranging from a high of 59% in South Africa to a low of 25% in Tanzania. For comparison, 89% of Americans said they use the internet in a January 2018 Pew Research Center survey.

While internet use among many of the world’s advanced economies has plateaued in recent years, internet use has increased in Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa since 2013, and in Tanzania since 2014. For example, 26% of Ghanaians reported using the internet in 2013, compared with 39% in 2017. Usage rates in Kenya stayed relatively stable during this time period.

Younger, more educated, affluent sub-Saharan Africans more likely to get online

Divides in internet use are similar to those found for mobile and smartphone ownership, with more educated, younger and higher-income people being more likely to go online. In most countries, men are also more likely than women to use the internet.

³

As with smartphone ownership, adults younger than 30 are more likely than those ages 50 and older to go online. In South Africa, for example, 75% of people ages 18 to 29 report using the internet, compared with only 31% of people 50 and older.

Significant income gaps in internet use also persist across sub-Saharan Africa, although these gaps are generally smaller than those for education or age. These gaps between richer and poorer people range from 12 points in Tanzania to 29 points in Senegal.⁴

For more on these demographic differences in internet use, see the detailed tables in Appendix A.

For internet users, social and entertainment activities most common on the web

Among those who go online, the most commonly reported activity is staying in touch with friends and family. A median of 85% of sub-Saharan internet users say they have used the internet to stay in touch during the past 12 months, making it by far the most popular online activity.

Information-gathering activities are somewhat less common than social activities, though some countries stand out. About half of internet users go online to access news and information about politics (a median of 53%) or to look up information about government services (51%). Only about four-in-ten (41%) report using the internet to find information about health or medicine. Kenya and Nigeria are notable as two countries in which more internet users are going online to get information: In both countries, around six-in-ten internet users say they go online to get political or government services information.

The least-reported online activities relate to career and commerce. While a majority of mobile phone owners are using their devices to make or receive payments, a median of just 46% of internet users are going online to do the same. Even fewer internet users are using the medium to look for work (median of 26%), buy products (17%) or take online courses (14%).

Unlike with mobile activities, older and poorer internet users are just as likely as their younger and richer counterparts to engage in all online activities asked about. However, in most countries, more-educated people are more likely use the internet to stay in touch with friends and family and to gather information, including looking up news about politics and getting health and medical information. People with more education are also more likely to use the internet to look for or apply for a job.

Men and women tend to engage in online activities at similar rates; however, in all countries, male internet users are also more likely than female users to look for news and information about politics online.

On social media, sub-Saharan Africans post more about entertainment than other topics

More than three-quarters of sub-Saharan Africans who go online also use social media sites. As with internet use, social media use is much more common among younger people, higher earners and those with more education. In every country but South Africa, male internet users are at least 13 percentage points more likely than female internet users to use social networking sites.

Social media users are much more likely to use these sites to share their views about entertainment topics than about other issues. For example, majorities of social media users say they use social media to share their views about music and movies (a median of 61%) and sports (57%). Far fewer post about religion (45%), politics (37%) or products they use (37%).

Sub-Saharan Africans generally feel that the internet has had a positive impact on many aspects of society, including education, the economy and personal relationships. They are less certain of the internet’s impact on politics and morality.

In all six countries surveyed, majorities say that internet use has positively impacted education in their country. Nigerians are particularly optimistic about the internet’s influence: Nearly nine-in-ten (88%) say it has had a good influence on education. In four of the countries, the number of people saying the internet has positively impacted education has risen since 2014, when the question was last asked. For example, while 81% of South Africans now say internet use has had a positive effect on education, just 68% said the same back in 2014. The number of people saying increasing internet use has had a good influence on education also rose by 7 percentage points or more in Ghana, Senegal and Tanzania since 2014.

Half or more in every sub-Saharan African country surveyed also view the internet’s economic impact in a good light. Nigerians are again the most positive, with about three-quarters (76%) saying the internet has had a good influence on their nation’s economy. Kenyans are less certain: 54% say the impact has been positive, and 26% say it has been negative. In four of the six countries surveyed, the percentage of people saying the internet has provided economic benefits has risen by 8 points or more since 2014. For example, while a majority of Ghanaians (61%) now say the internet has helped their country’s economy, that number was just 43% in 2014.

In every country but Kenya, about half or more say the internet has had a good influence on their country’s politics. The percentage of people saying the internet has affected politics in a positive way ranges from 64% in Nigeria to just 42% in Kenya. But people’s opinions on how the internet impacts politics have improved since 2014, when the question was last posed in four of the countries. For example, in 2014 just 33% of Ghanaians said the increasing use of the internet positively influences politics, compared with 53% in 2017. Opinion has also improved substantially in Nigeria (up 21 points), South Africa (14 points) and Senegal (11 points).

However, Africans are more divided about how internet use has impacted morality: A median of 45% say it has had a good influence, while a 39% median say it has had a bad influence. Nigerians (57%) are most likely to say the internet has positively affected morality in their country. The Senegalese are the most downbeat about its impact; more than half (54%) view the internet as a bad influence on morality in their country. This question was last posed to four of the six countries in 2014; since then, Ghanaians’ and Nigerians’ opinions of the internet’s impact on morality have improved by 13 points and 7 points, respectively.

Across the countries surveyed, internet users are generally more likely than non-users to say that the internet has positively impacted society. For example, 53% of South African internet users say the internet has had a good influence on morality in their country, compared with just 42% of non-users.

Older and younger people express similar views about how internet use has influenced their country. Gender, income and education are also not important factors in determining how someone feels about the impact of the internet.

This report is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals.

Laura Silver, Senior Researcher Courtney Johnson, Research Associate

James Bell, Vice President, Global Strategy       Alexandra Castillo, Research Associate Stefan Cornibert, Communications Manager Claudia Deane, Vice President, Research     Kat Devlin, Research Associate  Moira Fagan, Research Assistant Janell Fetterolf, Research Associate Christine Huang, Research Assistant Michael Keegan, Information Graphics Designer David Kent, Copy Editor                                                                Clark Letterman, Senior Researcher Martha McRoy, Research Methodologist Patrick Moynihan, Associate Director, International Research Methods Jacob Poushter, Senior Researcher           Audrey Powers, Senior Operations Associate Ariana Rodriguez-Gitler, Digital Producer               Bruce Stokes, Director, Global Economic Attitudes Christine Tamir, Research Assistant Kyle Taylor, Research Analyst Richard Wike, Director, Global Attitudes Research

About Pew Research Center’s Spring 2017 Global Attitudes Survey

Results for the survey are based on face-to-face interviews conducted under the direction of ORB International. The results are based on national samples unless otherwise noted. More details about our international survey methodology and country-specific sample designs are available here.

Detailed information on survey methods for this report

General information on international survey research

Country-specific examples of smartphones

Some cellphones are called “smartphones” because they can access the internet and apps. Is your cellphone a smartphone, such as ___ ?

Source: Spring 2017 Global Attitudes Survey. Q65.

Pew Research Center

Country-specific examples of social networking sites

Do you ever use online social networking sites like ___ ?

Source: Spring 2017 Global Attitudes Survey. Q71.

Pew Research Center